Love is NOT for Children
by courtneybuscus
Summary: Natasha Romanoff is a skilled assassin who believes no woman should ever marry a man. But she comes down with a sickness and gets caught by a S.H.I.E.L.D Agent-Clint Barton. He changes her point of view of men and she slowly falls for him. *DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE AVENGERS OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS*
1. Prologue

Love is for children.

This was the motto of Natasha Romanoff. Correction-it was a way of life. The only time she really got to know a man was when she was going to interrogate, work with, or-of course-kill him. She was a spy- a secret agent. She spent most of her life either running, hiding, or fighting. And of course, being on S.H.I.E.L.D.s radar, she didn't have much time for rest. She was a skillful murderess and she always seemed to be one step ahead.

Her interrogation with the Soviet leader-she had him out in less than a minute after getting all she needed out of him. Her alleged "capture" by the Duke of York, well…let's just say, she wasn't tied up for long. Oh, and who could forget her meeting with the Governor of Colorado? Needless to say…he's dead now.

Living a life like this…it can get tiring. She is only one woman after all. A woman with lots of patience, flexibility, and near perfect aim, of course. But she was getting tired of running around, day and night. She needed food. She needed rest. She couldn't go on living like this for much longer. But still, she kept going. She fought the battles she needed to fight and when she didn't need to be active, she went undercover for a little while. She only came out of hiding once she sought out her next victim. She of course had plenty of food, and she managed a place to stay. But still, she wasn't doing so well. She became slower, easily tired (of course she didn't let her opponent know this), and she seemed to be getting hungrier…thirstier.

What was this feeling? She had never before experienced something like this. She was slow-a first. She was tired-how is that possible? And she never seemed to feel quite herself-what was wrong with her? While she was still beating her eneimies, she still felt horrible...as if, someone was jabbing her with needles and making her pump her arms so many times they just went limp. She had a problem, and being herself, this was something she could solve, right? No. Natasha Romanoff had no clue what was going on. And being on the run, she couldn't just waltz in to the hospital demanding answers. So she decided to keep going, push on, fight the one battle that didn't require any weapons.

And you know what happened next? It got worse.


	2. I Natasha

Some girls like their clothes. Some girls treated their purses like their own children. And some girls absolutly ADORED their boyfriends.

This was all I could see as I pushed through a crowd of people. This chick holding her guys hand. Two people making out on the corner. Please! I mean don't they have something better to do? Like kick butt or murder idiots? No? Just me? Well, one thing's for sure-you won't be finding me kissing anyone in the next, oh, MILLION YEARS! I mean, guys are such idiots! They stomp around like they're the most important people in the world and some treat their own girlfriends like slaves. It's all pretty pathetic if you ask me.

But what do I know? I am only just one of the only people in this world that is smart enough to kill even the highest rank officials. I am only the one and ONLY person who has hidden from S.H.I.E.L.D for over a half of my life. But I guess none of that really counts considering no one knows who I am. That is, everyone who isn't Nick Fury and Phil Coulston and the rest of their top-secret organization.

But I guess not all boys have oatmeal for brains. And I only say this because unlike _some_ people I know, these guys took _their_ girlfriends to a high up, classy place like this. I walked another block and seemed to step in a complete alternate universe. Bright lights hung from every street lamp. The cafe's were aglow with a blue and pink light and each little umbrellaed table was crammed full of people. It was like the whole street was lit up and shining, full of laughter and delight. There was an orchastra playing outside of the huge captiol-like building. The white marble steps, the huge fountain, and the colums all stood, perfectly aligned. As if daring you to question it. Around this building was a huge, green yard, which was also full of people dancing to the melody of the violins.

Women wore dresses and men were dressed up in their finest tuxedos. As I watched each person carefully I noticed an array of things that most people probably wouldn't. For example, I saw two men, about the age of thirty or so, each giving the other one a death glare, both men sizing the other one up. They stood facing me, as I strolled the brick, cobblestone plaza that had an elegant spewing fountain in the middle. There was a beautiful woman in a dark red, maybe maroon dress, standing in front of the two gentlemen. She was probably about twenty-five or so, and when she stopped her conversation with the elderly man by her and turned back to the two boys they immediatly went slack and acted casual.

I of course, had to dress up for this mission. I wore a glittering black dress that didn't quite cover my shoulders, but instead wrapped around the tops of my arm and only went down about an inch. The top of my dress was pretty much a straight line, sleve to sleve, except for a small dip in the middle. The rest of the dress was pretty form fitting and went all the way down to my feet. There was, of course, a cut in the dress that started at the middle of my thigh and went down to the bottom of my dress. I had a flashdrive and a couple guns attached to my leg and a couple packs of ammo in my shoe in case of an emergency. There always is one. As I walked, some boys tried to get my attention, but I pressed on.

You see, in a place like this, a shadow would seem strange-almost...unnatural. But unfortunately, the S.H.I.E.L.D agent that was following me was smart enough to realize that too.


End file.
